The Broken Key: (Fairy Tail Au)
by Godzilla3015Films
Summary: After the war with Zeref and the tragic death of her lover, Natsu, Lucy goes on an journey to find Aquarius’ lost key. In the process however she instead comes across a strange man who, with the rise of a new enemy, has to face the dark memories of his past.
1. chapter 1

Off in a distance land, a kingdom was set ablaze after being attacked by an unstoppable enemy. The king of this once thriving and seemingly peaceful kingdom was being held hostage as the invaders destroyed the throne room in search of something.

"I know you have it Francis..." A hooded man in a trench coat said calmly as the king was on his knees cowarding before him. The hooded man whose face was covered by a skull shaped metallic mask looked down at the king.

"Now I'll ask again..."

The hooded man knelt down towards the king and stared him down with the black sunken eyes of his mask. "Where is it?"

The quivering king was quivering in fear as he was surrounded by the mulitated bodies of his guards and kinsmen. "I-I don't know..."

"Well it must be here. You were more willing to let all of your people starve than let anyone know of its location." The hooded man said to the king before realizing the king was staring off at something else.

The hooded man followed the kings line of sight to the throne before nodding.

"Ahhh...there it is."

The king looks at the man with shock before grabbing his shoulders

"N-no n-no n-no! It's not there! Trust me!"

"Too late Francis..." The hooded man broke the king's wrist before standing up and making his way over to the throne. "I had to admit, you lasted longer than I thought you would. For a coward."

The king tried to get up onto his feet but a woman just came up behind him and stabbed his leg with her spear with four more men behind her.

The hooded man grabbed the throne and chucks it across the throne room before noticing a small hole that was underneath with a small box inside.

"Please...Star King...don't do this..."

"I'm afraid the world has given me no choice Francis..." The Star King said before pulling the small box out of the hole and opening it to reveal a glowing yellow stone. "I must do this...for everyone."

The Star King looks over at the king has he held the glowing stone in his hand.

"I hope to see you in the next world."

The Star King nodded at the woman with the spear who swiftly killed the king who before his demise was begging for his life.

"What now?" Asks one of the four men standing behind the woman

"Now..." The Star King said as he was admiring the stone. "We make an Empire fall..."


	2. The Lone Star

_"Don't forget about me weirdo..."_

That's the last thing he told her before he disappeared forever. Before he left her.

Lucy walked down the stone path that led to her destination. It's been years since the war with Zeref ended and Lucy had separated herself from the guild. With the loss of Natsu she couldn't bare to look at any of her guild mates in the eye anymore, knowing that she had failed to save her best friend. However Lucy has had made a name for herself as well as a ton of fans with the release of her book. It seems that she gets stopped on the street constantly for an autograph, which is nice and all but over time it can get a bit exhausting.

Lucy looks over the horizon and noticed a small village off in the distance. Lucy stomach growls as she considered whether or not she should visit the village.

 _"Well I do need some rest. And I am kinda hungry."_

Lucy lets out a sigh before making her decision. She makes her way over to the village and once she enters it she's immediately bombarded with fans asking for autographs.

"Uhhhh th-thanks everyone but I need to find a place to eat."

"Oh I'll be happy to help you Mrs. Heartfilia!" Shouts out one fan

"No! I'll help Mrs. Heartfilia!" Cries out another.

"No I will!"

"She wants help from me!"

The fans soon begin to argue and fight amongst themselves giving Lucy the perfect opportunity to slip out.

She looks back at the fighting crowd and lets out a sigh.

"Why can't I have a normal fanbase..."

Lucy looks around the village and notices a bar.

"That looks promising."

The blonde wizard made her way over to the bar and enters. Her eyes widen as the mean looking customers all look at her the same time with scandally cladded waitress bringing them their meals.

"Uhhhhh..."

Lucy stood in the entrance awkwardly, having no idea what to do. She looks out in the village and notices that there seemed to be no other option. The blonde would sigh and walks in before finding herself a stool at the bar.

The gruff and burly bartender raises a brow at her before shaking his head. "What ya want lady?" He asked rather coldly.

"Uhhhh could you please get me something to eat, I'm rather hungry." Lucy lets out an awkward chuckle.

The bartender rolled his eyes and told one of the waitresses to get her some food.

Lucy looks around the place, feeling rather uncomfortable. She fiddles with her fingers before she feels a tap on her shoulder.

"Hm?" The blonde turns around to see one of the waitresses with short blue hair smiling at her.

"Hello Mrs. Heartfilia, sorry to bother you but I couldn't help but notice that you seemed a little lost. Do you have a place to stay?"

"Oh no I do not." Lucy smiled at the waitress. "I was just passing by here."

The blue haired waitress would tilt her head as she looked at Lucy worryingly. "You look like you need some rest. Please, you can stay at my place."

Lucy was a little taken back by the offer and tried to politely decline but the waitress insisted.

The blonde thought over her options before finally agreeing to the waitress' offer.

"Great, my shift is about done so we can go now."

"Okay." Lucy got up from the bar with a soft smile. "I don't think I got your name Miss."

"Oh silly me." The waitress giggled. "My name's Karen." Karen puts her hand out to shake Lucy's with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Karen." Lucy shakes her hand with a smile.

Karen leads Lucy to her farm home outside the village. Lucy looks around the farm notices the bright and beautiful farm land surrounding the house.

"My husband is a very skilled farmer, he mostly is away on trips selling our produce." Karen tells Lucy with a smile before opening the front door for her.

Lucy gives her a warm smile before entering the home. In the living area she sees a little blue hair boy in a makeshift knight helmet made from cardboard swinging a wooden sword around as he runs around the room.

"Jack, what did I say about running?" Karen asks the boy as he enters the home.

Jack turns to his mother. "But mooooooooom I'm a kni-" Jack stops his sentence when he sees Lucy. "Lucy Heartfilia! From Fairy Tail!" Jack's eyes light up with joy at the sight of Lucy.

Karen chuckles as he walks next to Lucy. "He's a big fan."

Lucy smiles warmly at the boy with a soft giggle. "Hello there."

"Sooooooo cool! Can you tell me about the time you won the magic games!? Or when you defeated all of those dark guilds?! Or what about the-"

"Okay okay Jack calm down." Karen giggled softly as she walked over to her son. "Miss Heartfilia has had a long day so we need to give her some rest."

Jack looked a little disappointed but soon nodded in agreement. "Okay mom." He looks back at Lucy with a big smile. "But you promise to tell me about your adventures?"

Lucy smiled softly at the boy and nodded. "I promise."

"Yay!" Jack jumped with excitement.

"Okay little man run outside and play now." Karen said before Jack nodded and ran outside.

Karen and Lucy shared a small laugh as the boy ran out. "He's always looked up to Fairy Tail."

"Yeah..." Lucy smiled but it soon faded as she looks down at her hand with her guild mark on it. It's been so long since she had seen any of her guild mates.

Karen notices Lucy looking down at her hand and frowned. "You okay?"

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Karen. "Y-yeah just spaced out is all." Lucy let out an awkward chuckle.

Karen nodded with a smile and a small chuckle. "Here, let me help bring your bags upstairs."

Lucy nodded and the two went upstairs.

Late at night three men who are badly bruised, beaten, and bloodied run out of a dark alley way in the village.

"Let's get out of here!"

"This guy's a monster!"

In the dark alley way was a tall man with pitch black hair and eyes, a scar ran down from his left eye and down to his neck. Blood dripped from his fists as he had a bloody nose and lip with a bruise on his cheeks. A little girl cowers in the corner before the man turns to her. His cold and lifeless eyes look down upon her as he notices he was standing bext to her torn teddy bear. The man sighs and kneels down and grabs the teddy bear and offers it back to the girl. The little girl didn't bother to take the teddy bear and ran away from the man in utter fear and terror. The man sighs as he looked at the torn teddy bear.

 _"I'll have to fix it up and give it to her tomorrow."_


	3. Haruo Kira

The sunlight shined on Lucy's face causing her to wake up. Another nightmare. That day plays over in her head again and again. She looks next to her to see that he's still not there, despite all of her prayers and hopes that he'll some how appear next to her and hold her in his arms again. The lonely blonde sat up in the bed, her hair in a mess as he looks down at the Fairy Tail emblem on her hand with sadness.

 _"It's been so long...I wonder how everyone's doing at the guild..."_

Lucy's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of some ruckus happening outside.

 _"What's happening?"_

The blonde mage got out of bed and looked out the window to see a group of tough and shappy looking men hanging around outside with emblems on their bodies.

 _"A guild?"_

Lucy gets dressed in a hurry and rushes down stairs where Karen and Jack are. The two were next to the front door as Karen was trying to hide Jack.

"What's going on?" Lucy asks worryingly.

"It's a dark guild. Help me hide Jack and go hide. If they know that I'm hiding a member of another guild here there'll be more trouble." Karen answered as she handed Jack over to Lucy, shaking in fear.

"W-what? You're not plannin' on going out there and facing them all by yourself are you?" Lucy asked Karen with worry in her voice.

"I have to. My husband would usually handle this but he's not here."

"Karen!" A voice from outside called out. "Come out here or we'll break in!"

Karen looked at the door full of fear as Jack hid behind Lucy.

"Let me go out there with you." Lucy pleaded.

"No." Karen said, looking down.

"But-"

"But nothing! The only reason our family lived this long is because we made a deal with this guild! If anything were to happen we'd all be dead!" Karen snapped at Lucy with tears in her eyes.

Lucy looked at Karen with sadness as Jack starts to cry. "What kind of deal did you make with them Karen?"

Karen, tears streaming down her cheeks looked down.

"We bring them money and they leave us alone. If anyone in this village doesn't make enough money on the deadline, they're killed..."

Lucy looks at Karen wide eyed after hearing that. Questions ran through her head. How long has this been happening for? Why hasn't anyone been doing anything about this. Who's their master?

"Look, I don't know what they want. The deadline isn't till another week." Karen wiped away her tears as she looked at Lucy. "Please...just hide, and let me deal with this...alone."

Lucy nodded and took the fearful Jack to the staircase. The blonde would tell the boy to hide in a room upstairs. The boy nodded and headed upstairs in a hurry as Lucy stayed on the staircase, out of sight, in case things went south.

Karen sighs and walks out of the front door to face the dark guild. The leader of this small group was a muscular bald man who gave Karen a sick and twisted smirk as she walked out of the house.

"Karen! How ya been?" He said as he walked up to her.

"What do you want Flint?" Karen asked as she glares at the man.

"Oh nothin', just wonderin' where my money is." Flint looks up and down Karen's body and licks his lips with an evil smirk.

Karen looks at Flint with a shocked expression.

"We have at least another week left! My husband's not even back yet!"

"And that's good for one of us." Flint smirked at her as he steps closer towards Karen who backs away. "I've decided to change the due date to right now. So just hand over what you promised. Unless..." Flint pulls out a knife and holds it against Karen's thigh while he grabs her by the throat, holding her face close to his.

"You wanna test me..."

Karen looks at him, wide eyed as she shook in fear.

"Please Flint...we don't have your money. Just another we—"

"Get away from her!" Lucy ordered as she glared at Flint with her whip in her hand. Jack watched from the stair case.

Karen stared at Lucy in shock as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"No..."

Flint looked at Lucy, confused at first before laughing, noticing the emblem on Lucy's hand. "Looks boys! It's a fairy!"

The men around Flint laugh and chuckled with evil looks as he held the knife at Karen's throat.

"Listen sweetheart, this is none of your business go back inside with the little brat and I may let the wench live."

"There's no way I'll leave you with her!" Lucy shouted as she got ready for a fight.

Flint shrugged as he pressed the knife against Karen's throat.

"Suit yourself."

Flint goes to slice Karen's throat but Lucy hit the knife out of his hand with her whip, causing him to let go of Karen.

Karen coughed and held on her neck before starting to run to Lucy.

"Hey! You bitch!"

Flint reached out to grab Karen but saw a large shadow lunge at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh shit!"

Flint jumped back as a big black dog like beast jumped in front of him and blocked his path to Karen who was in Lucy's arms. Lucy looked at the beast in shock as it snarled and chomped at Flint and his men.

The beast was covered in black fur and had big red eyes. Sharp long teeth with green saliva dripping from its maw. A snake like tail with a rattle at the end wagged behind it.

"Careful. Cerberus doesn't like bullies." Said a soft yet demanding voice.

Lucy looked behind her to see a man with pitch black hair and eyes that seemed to have no emotion in them walk to the front of the house carrying three large crates. Lucy noticed that the man had a long scar that was under his left eye and continued down his neck. He had a black t-shirt on with a black leather jacket, dark jeans and boots on.

Karen sighed out of relief at the sight of both the man and the dog-like beast who was named Cerberus.

"Haruo..." Flint glared at the man. "Heard you were caused trouble for us again last night."

"Yeah..." Haruo said placing the crates down next to the front door with his back turned to Flint. When he spoke two long sharp fangs were clearly visible

"What 'bout it?"

Harou turned to Flint and glared at him with his cold black eyes. Lucy gulped as she looked at him. Something about this guy seemed off.

"You got into another fight with our men last night. One of their noses were completely flattened." Flint cracked his knuckles as he smirked at Haruo. "Shall we teach you a lesson?"

Lucy sees that Flint's men looked at the Haruo and Cerberus full of fear as they were all shaking.

 _"Dang, this guy must be the real deal if he can get a dark guild this scared. But..."_

Lucy looked over at Haruo curiosiously.

 _"I don't feel any magic energy off of this guy, but I can't help but feel that's he's still really powerful."_

Haruo rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Take it up with Cerberus." He gestured to his dog like beast who roared at Flint and his men, making the ground shake.

Lucy, Karen, and Jack covered their ears and once Cerberus finished roaring, Flint's men begun to flee.

"Hey! Where you idiots going!" Flint yelled before looking at Haruo who kept the same cold stare the entire time.

"This isn't over." Flint warned before he retreated with his fleeing men.

Lucy watched them run away before turning to Haruo as Cerberus made his way up to them, shrinking down into normal dog size, though he was still fairly large for a dog.

"You okay Karen?" Haru asked Karen, only a hint of worry in his eyes.

Karen nodded, breathless.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to Lucy." Karen smiled at the blonde mage.

Lucy would smile back before looking back at Haruo and Cerberus.

"Lets get you inside." Haruo said noticing a very small cut on Karen's neck.

Karen would nod as Lucy and Haruo helped her inside.

After Haruo washed away the small amount of blood from Karen's cut and healed it, he sat her down on the couch as Cerberus was comforting a frightened Jack.

Lucy looked at the two with confusion as she didn't know what the make of them. Haruo seems nice, but he just seems off. His mysterious nature seemed to attract her curiosity.

"Oh Lucy," Karen said laying on the couch. "This is Haruo, he helps us with the farm. He's also new to the villiage like you."

"Nice to meet you." Lucy smiles at Haruo and extended out her hand to him for a handshake.

Haruo looked at her hand with no emotion. He looked up at her before finally turning away from her.

 _"Wow...rude."_

Lucy looked down at Cerberus who softly growled at her.

 _"Guess they don't trust me either."_

"We can do introductions later Karen. You and Jack need rest." Haruo said covering Karen with a blanket.

Karen nodded and closed her eyes to get some much deserved rest. Haruo then stood up and turned to Jack.

"Alright kid. You need to get off to bed too."

"Okay..." Jack said rubbing his eyes.

"Here," Lucy said as she picked the little boy up. "I'll tuck you in."

Later, Lucy was tucking Jack into bed as Haruo was leaning against the doorway of the boys room with Cerberus by his side.

"Thank you Miss Heartfilia." Jack said before yawning.

"Of course," Lucy smiles sweetly at the boy. "Now get some sleep."

"Wait, I wanna say night to Haruo."

Lucy looked back a Haruo who was then nudged by Cerberus into the room. Haruo would sigh and walk over to the bed and ruffle Jack's hair.

"Night kiddo."

Jack smiled up to Haruo before closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

Lucy and Haruo left the boy's room with Lucy closing the door behind her. She would turn her head to see Haruo and Cerberus already heading down stairs.

 _"Not even a goodbye?"_

Lucy would huff and follow Haruo and Cerberus out of the front door, the sun setting.

"Hey!" Lucy called out to Haruo.

Haruo would sigh softly as he turns around with Cerberus growling at the blonde mage.

"I just um...I just wanna thank you for um...what you did b-back there. That was very brave of you to stand up to those guys." Lucy blushed in embarrassment from how awkward she was acting as she looked nervously at Cerberus.

"Don't mention it." Haruo said coldly before turning away.

"I-I got a question." Lucy stuttered, knowing she's probably bothering this man. She doesn't know why she's acting so weird around him. There's just something about him that calls to her.

Haruo would let out a rather animalistic, annoyed growled as he turns back to Lucy.

"What?" He was abouted to loose his patience with this woman.

"Who were those guys? What do they want?"

"They call themselves the Serperiors? A dark guild that has multiple stations in the continent and offer people protection but instead steal from innocent people and murder them if they don't corporate." Haruo looked at Lucy straight in the eye as he told her that. His eyes sent shivers down her spine as she looked back at him in horror from hearing this.

"Why doesn't anyone do anything about them?!"

Haruo would shrug.

"Dunno. Maybe they got people in their pockets. Or maybe they're in someone else's pocket. Who knows?"

"Why would anyone hire those goons?" Lucy asked with a look of anger on her face.

"You don't know how cruel people can be." Haruo replied as he looked away from Lucy.

Lucy looked at the black haired man sadly. He seemed to have been through something. Something horrible.

"So, you fight these guys?"

Haruo looked back at Lucy.

"I try to stay out of altercations."

"Oh..." Lucy looked down a bit embarrassed. She doesn't want to keep bothering this poor man with all of her questions.

She would look but at Haruo and notice the scar under his left eye, looking at it sadly and curiously.

Haruo sees that she was looking at his scar causing him to cover it with his hand and look away.

"S-sorry!! I-I didn't mean to—"

"No...it's fine."

Haruo turned his back to her and put his hands in his pocket.

"Night."

Haruo walked away with Cerberus following behind him.

"N-night..." Lucy said quietly as she watched him walk away.

She would sigh and look down, feeling bad for scaring him away. He was kinda cute.

Lucy's would blush red before covering her face.

"Why would I even think that?!"

Lucy would shake her head and walk back inside the house to go to bed.

Later that night Lucy would wake up hearing screaming.

 _"Karen! Jack!"_

Lucy jumped out of bed and rush downstairs, seeing a firey glow and smoke out of the windows.

Once she got outside she sees Flint and other men burning the crops, Karen screaming at the loss of all the hard work her and her family had done. More men surround her as she held Jack close to her, both covered in dirt and bruises. Flint was laughing maniacally as he was burning the crops.

Suddenly adrenaline was bumping throughout Lucy's body, and fueled by rage she made a b line towards Flint, pulling her whip out and striking him in the face with it. Flint would let out a cry of pain, covering the right side of his face as he ordered his men to grap Lucy.

Flint's men charged at Lucy with weapons in hand but all failed to get their hands on her as she would kick them aside and whip them back. One man reached for her but she caught him by the wrist with her whip and throw him aside, knocking down other men charging at her.

Lucy would then reach for her keys.

She gasped, her eyes widening.

 _"M-my spirits!"_

Her keys were back upstairs, having not been used in years.

 _"How...how could I have forgotten about my spirits...?"_

Tears formed in her eyes as men tackled her onto the ground. They held her down with her arms behind her back as she struggled, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Lucy!" Karen and Jack called out to her.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Flint walked up to her with a villainous smirk, the right side of his face now carrying a huge wound from her whip. His men held the blond mage up on her knees as she glared up at Flint who kneeled in front of her.

"That's what you get for being a hero." Flint winked at her before standing up and forming a black metal sword on his left hand.

Lucy looked up at the sword with widened eyes.

 _"That looks like Gajeel's magic!"_

"Just to let you in on a little secret sweetheart," Flint held the sword up, ready to strike Lucy with it as Karen and Jack yelled in horror. "I'm a steel godslayer."

"Don't do it!" Jack cries out before Karen covered his eyes, looking away as she held her son close.

Lucy would close her eyes and brace for the attack as Flint begun to bring the sword down on her.

Suddenly, out from the darkness of the night, a throwing knife was thrown into Flint's left eye.

"Aghhhh! My eye!!" Flint reeled back in back as he held his face. He would then look up into the shadows of the night. "Who did that?!"

Two red glowimg eyes shined through the cold night as snarling was heard. The fire from the crops lit Cerberus' large beastly figure as next to him was his master Haruo, playing with another throwing knife. The fire was reflected in his lifeless black eyes which was filled with rage.

"Now...which one of you fuckers wants to die first?"

Lucy, Karen, and Jack all looked at Haruo with widened eyes as Flint's men shook in fear.

"What do you idiots think you're doing?! Get him!!" Flint yelled prior to his men charging at Haruo and Cerberus.

Cerberus jumped on the closet man and bit his face with his large sharp teeth as Haruo threw the throwing knife at another man's head, dropping him dead. Haruo stared at another one of Flint's man charging at him and punched him into the ground, causing a crater and flattening the man's face. Haruo would look to his side and see a man attempt to punch him. Haruo simply grabbed the man by the throat and squeezed, breaking his neck. Haruo would let out an animalistic growl and dodge attacks as he took more men out. Lucy looked on in shock as Haruo was brutalizing Flint's men, slapping them aside as if they were nothing and shattering their bones, at times even ribbing their limps off. At one point Haruo bit into a man's neck with his sharp fangs and tossed him into another group of men who were then torn to shreds by Cerberus.

Admist the chaos and carnage Lucy sees Karen and Jack still being kept hostage by a group of men. Lucy sees an opening as the others were distracted by Haruo and Cerberus and rushes towards them with her whip in hand.

"He—" One of them tried to stop Lucy but she kicked him aside and whipped the others away.

"Come on!" Lucy said to Karen and Jack as she escorted the two into the home before being dragged out by her hair.

"You're not going anywhere!" Flint shouted before throwing Lucy aside.

Lucy grunted in pain as she landed on the ground.

"I had enough of your _Fairy."_

Lucy looked up at Flint angrily before getting up onto her feet.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else."

Flint's hands turned into two black swords as he got into his battle stance while smirking.

"Come at me bitch."

One of Flints men swung at Haruo with a sword before Haruo grabbed the man's wrist and ripped off his arm. As the man was screaming in pain Haruo looked at the sword and took it out of the hand on the man's severed arm.

 _"Hm. Good balance."_

Annoyed with the man's screams Haruo slices the man's throat with the blade.

 _"Rape. Murder. Thievery. Harming innocent children and using harmless individuals to get what they want. These are all crimes this pathetic guild is guilty of, for that, they should all rot in hell."_

Haruo slices another man's stomach causing his intrales to fall out before he collaspes on the ground. Without looking Haruo then stabs another one of Flint's men that was behind them through the mouth.

Using the sword Haruo was blocking attacks while severing and cutting off limbs. At this pount Haruo had blood on his face, knuckles and clothes as he continued to fight brutally. Seeing a man attempting to flee, Haruo kicked him in the stomach causing him to vomit up blood as he was sent flying into the fire that had engulfed the crops.

Lucy was thrown against the house and barely escaped Flints steel godslayer bellow attack as she jumped out of the way.

"You're fast, but not quick enough!" Flint laughed before he turned his hand into a giant black steel chain link mace.

Lucy looked at Flint with her eyes widened before he goes to slam the mace right onto her. The blonde mage was quick to jump out of the way before it collided onto the ground, causing a crater, the force of the collision knocking Lucy onto the ground.

The female mage would cough as she was surrounded by smoke. She was covered in dirt and bruises as theres were small tears in her clothing. In the smoke, Lucy could see a silhouette walking over to her. She grits her teeth as she reached for her whip as Flint was making his way over to her with his hand being turned into a black steel axe.

"Time for you to d—" Flint stopped talking as his eyes widened, looking at something behind Lucy.

Lucy would look behind her to see Haruo with blood on his clothes, knuckles, face and even mouth. He was glaring at Flint with those damn eyes of his, the eyes of a broken man, the eyes that call to Lucy's curiosity.

The eyes of a monster.

Behind Haruo was Cerberus with a man's arm in his mouth. And behind them was Flint's men, all dead, no survivors. Killed with no mercy.

Flint was shaking as his hand turns back to normal, the throwing knife Haruo threw still lodged in his eye. Haruo begun to walk over to the quivering Flint who was backing away from him.

"H-hey...H-Haruo...c-come on...I-I'm sorry..." Flint laughed nervously.

"I-I'll go...okay...Just have mercy on me..."

Haruo grabbed Flint by the throat as he glared at him.

"You want mercy?" Haruo asked coldy.

"Y-yes?" Flint replied, crying.

Lucy looked at Haruo and Flint curiosiously, wondering what Haruo was going to do.

Haruo looked over at the fire that was burning away the crops and threw Flint in there, watching the man burn and scream with no emotion in his eyes.

Lucy closed her eyes as she heard Flint's screams while Karen looked away as she covered Jack's eyes.

As the sun began to rise Lucy would look at Haruo who was now looking down with the wind blowing his pitch black hair and the fire behind him, Flint's screams ceased.

"Why would you do that?" Lucy asked as she glared at Haruo.

Haruo would look at Lucy coldy, his black bangs covered his left eye.

"Some people don't deserve the life they're given. They rape, murder, and harm innocent people who have done nothing and are just tryin' to live happy lives."

"But killing them's not right!" Lucy got onto her feet as she yelled angrily at Haruo.

Cerberus would bark at Lucy as he stood next to Haruo who told the hound to stay down.

"You're right..." Haruo would look down and away from Lucy. "But...sometimes it may be the only option..."

"Huh?" Lucy would look at Haruo angry and confused before realizing that seemed sad. She couldn't exactly tell because he always seems to carry an emotionless face but this time he actually seemed to be sad.

Lucy would look at Haruo sadly as Karen stepped out of the house looking at the carnage and destruction in horror.

"Karen!" Lucy walked up to her. "Are you o—"

"Get out..." Karen said coldy while she looked down.

"Wha..? But Karen I..."

"I said Get out!!" Karen snapped at Lucy. "Because of you my entire lively hood is destroyed!! You should've stayed in the house like I said or else no of this would've happened!!"

Lucy would look down sadly, tears streaming down her face. Haruo would look over at Lucy, only of hint of sadness in his eyes as he felt bad for her.

"And you!" Karen turned her attention to Haruo. "You think you're a hero?! Do you have any idea what you've done to Jack?! You traumatized him!! You're not a hero! You're a killer! A monster!!"

Cerberus was about to roar at Karen but Haruo stopped him.

"No boy...she's right..."

Haruo would look at Karen with his cold emotionless stare.

"Just take it easy on Lucy. She did nuthin' wrong. All she wanted was to help."

Lucy would look at Haruo wide eyed with tears as he nods at her before walking away from the property with Cerberus by his side.

Karen was looking down with her back towards Lucy.

"Go upstairs, get your stuff, and get the hell off of my property."

Lucy nodded and went inside of the house, got her bags and walked back out, towards the train station.


	4. The Start of a New Adventure

The sun shined upon the village as its inhabitants could see the large amounts of smoke off in the distance from the events that occurred last night. As they all mumbled to themselves, wondering what had happened Lucy walked through the crowd with her head down as she carried her bags. The events that had transpired last night would play over and over again in her head. How malicious and evil Flint was after burning away a family's life work, the sheer terror in Jack's eyes, how angry Karen got when all Lucy wanted to do was help. Even the weird emblem of a snake wrapped around a flaming sword that was on the members of the dark guild was engraved in the mage's head. But what peeked her curiosity the most, was Haruo.

At first he seemed alright. Just a quiet man who's mysterious nature called out to Lucy as if it was begging for her attention. But in battle she could see just how animalistic he was. His growls reminded her of a predator on the prowl and his eyes...those god damn eyes. So dull and black, but at night they seemed to shine in the star and moonlight. And what the hell is that beast dog he keeps as for a pet?

Lucy would snap back to reality when she heard the shutting of a door. She would look up and see Haruo in front of her, Cerberus the dog beast behind him, growling at her. He was in front of a shappy and broken down looking building, the word _Hotel_ was faintly plastered above the door as if it was washed away. Haruo had a backpack hung over his shoulder and a suitcase next to him. Seems like he too was skipping town.

Lucy wanted to walk past him, no point in talking to an animalistic killer. But she was reminded of last night. He covered for her. Why? She had to know. Lucy had to know everything there was to know about this man and she had no idea why.

She could've asked him anything. Why did you Kill Flint? What's your connection to Karen? Who are you? What is Cerberus? Why did you defend me?

But she didn't say any of that. For some reason seeing Haruo just freezes her and she never knows what to say.

"H-hey..." Lucy said as she stood awkwardly in front of him.

"Hey." He said back, his voice as soft and firm as ever.

"How are you holdin' up?" The black haired man asked.

Lucy didn't answer, all she could do was look down as she was reminded of something else that happened last night. She forgot her keys. Her spirits. Her friends. Ever since _he_ passed she's never pulled them out, not even to fight. How could she forget about them? How could she forget about her friends?

Haruo looks down at the bags Lucy was carrying.

"You leavin'?"

Lucy nodded.

"Y-yeah."

Haruo looked back up at her, his eyes still cold but they softened only slightly when he looked at her.

"Me too."

Lucy continued to look down at her feet in total embarrassment and sadness.

"There's a train station not far from here, just thought I'd let you know."

Haruo was about to walk away with Cerberus before Lucy stopped him.

"W-wait!"

Lucy called out, her arm stretched out towards him as if she was reaching for him.

Haruo stopped, his back faced her for a moment before he lets out a sigh and turns to her. Looking into her brown eyes with his cold lifeless black ones.

"Yeah?"

Lucy pulls her hand away from him and looked down to her brown boots.

"Why...why did you cover for me...?"

Haruo looked down to Cerberus and they both shared a slightly confused look before they both simultaneously looked back to her.

"Because you're a good person...admittably I believe you should've stayed in the goddamn house like you where told but someone had to stand up to those fucks eventually."

Lucy looked up at Haruo questionably, a little taken back by him calling her a 'good person'.

"Weren't you standing up to them?"

Haruo shook his head.

"No, I was more of a thorn in their side. They just got on my nerves."

"Oh..."

Lucy's eyes trailed downwards.

"If that's all you're gonna ask then I have no reason to waste my time anymore."

Haruo was about to turn around when he feels something grab his arm.

"Hm?"

He looked over at her. She was looking down, obviously still shaken by last night. Haruo would sigh as he took pity upon the blonde mage.

"What are you gonna do now?" He asked as he stared down at her.

"I-I'm..." She gulps before she lets go of his arm and steps back. "I'm gonna continue my search...for aquarius' key..."

Haruo cocked his head like a curious dog as he looked at her. "You don't seem completely confident in your efforts to find this key."

Lucy was taken back by his statement. Aquarius was one of her greatest friends, why wouldn't she be confident in the search to bring her back?

"Look, if you sit still and wallow in self pity you'll accomplish jack shit." Haruo said as he turned his back towards the blonde. "I don't know what happened to you and frankly I don't give a damn, but if you want to find what you're looking for you need to be strong in the face of loss."

Lucy's eyes widened as he told her this. Haruo was right. Ever since she lost him she's just been wallowing in self pity and sadness. Because of her wallowing Lucy has put aside her closest friends and the only family she had left.

"You have a fire in you Lucy," Haruo said as he begun to walk away from her. "You just need to light it."

Lucy looked up at Haruo as she saw him leaving her. She couldn't let him leave her. She didn't know why but she just couldn't. There's still so much she hasn't learned about him. She just has grown this buring desire to discover everything there is to know about this mysterious man.

"C-come with me!" She said frankly as she reached her hand out to Haruo.

Haruo stopped dead in his tracks. She did not just ask him to join her on this ridiculous quest didn't she?

Lucy's eyes widened once she realized what she just asked. She would put her hand down as she just stared at Haruo before realizing something else. She then looked at him sadly at the realization.

"You're alone...aren't you?"

Haruo's face darkened as she said this. He would then look down to the dirt on the ground.

"I've been alone for a very long time."

Lucy would stand tall and walk over to him. Haruo, hearing the sound of her making his way over to him, turned to her and sees how her posture has changed. Once she was sulking in self pity, now she was standing confidently in determination.

"Come with me." She said as she looked stern into his eyes. "You don't have to be alone."

Cerberus tilted his head in confusion before looking up at his master.

"No." Haruo said coldly as he looked back into her eyes. "Don't you remember? I'm a monster."

"Maybe. But what's wrong with that?" Lucy gave him a small smile.

This takes Haruo back before he feels her take his hand and begin to drag him off.

"Hey, the fuck you doin'?" Haruo asked as he looked at her, confused as Cerberus follows close behind.

Lucy turns to him and smiles brightly at him. "If we're gonna be alone, mine as well be alone together." She would give him a wink.

Haruo would narrow his eyes at her before looking away at her with a growl.

"Fine." He muttered.

Lucy squeaks with excitement as she carries a bright big smile on her face.

"This is the start of a new adventure!"


	5. Train Talk

**2 years ago, in a unknown location**

In a dark cell with few light sits a sickly and frail man with white tired eyes and dirty long white hair. He was a young man but by his appearance no one could really tell. He was bare naked, his body dirty and bruised, with a large scar on his chest. Flies flew around him as he just sat there in silence, sulking. He could hear the off distance screams of guards and explosions out of his cell but he simply couldn't care less.

"Hey!! Stop!!"

A voice called out before a guard with golden armor and white wings on his back was launched through the metal door by a blue laser before slamming into a wall. The Star King walked through the busted entrance and into the room where the man's cell was, blue energy still coming off the blue orb on his mask.

The man with white hair looked up at the Star King with his saddened tired eyes as Star King unlocked and opened the man's cell door.

"Almack...the god of—"

"Ex-god...of light and life..." the frail man named Almack interrupted the Star King. "I have been relieved of my god title..."

"Not to me you haven't..." The Star King said before making his way over to Almack and kneeling down in front of him.

"Why have you've come to rescue me?" Almack asked the Star King coldy.

"Because I believe in your vision," The Star King answered. "I believe in a world without death or darkness, without pain or loss."

"If you want me to lead you to that world then I must decline...I fear I've lost my will and strength to go on..." Almack looked down and away from the Star King not wanting to take part in his scheme.

"I'm not here for you to lead me, I'm here to lead you."

Almack looked back up at the Star King with confusion.

Star King then grabbed the chains that held Almack to the wall of his prison with his hands, before a bright yellow energy glowed around his hands and effectively melted off Almack's chains.

Almack looked at the energy in utter shock.

"That's—"

"Starlight." The Star King interrupted before offering Almack his hand.

"You may have lost faith in the world you dreamed of. But I assure you, it's a world worth fighting for and a world that can and will exist."

Almack was then surrounded by a bright white aura as he takes the Star King's hand.

"Then guide me...guide me towards my dream."

Lucy sighed as she sat next to Haruo and Cerberus on the bench at the train station. The dog beast panting and getting drool all over the floor while growling at innocent by-passers and Haruo sharpening his fangs with a knife while scaring away a bunch of Lucy's pervy fans with just a glare. Because of all this there was a lot of attention towards them.

"How to you even get places when you drag so much attention to yourselves?" Lucy asked Haruo as she was a bit annoyed.

"We walk." Haruo answered as he was slouching in the bench with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, go figure." Lucy sighed before noticing it was time to get onto the train.

At first Lucy was worried about how to get Cerberus onto the train, but after Haruo "persuaded" the conductor to let his precious pet aboard and trying to keep Cerberus from biting any of the passengers head's off they finally got aboard.

Lucy would plop down in her seat next to the window as Cerberus jumps into the seat across from her, taking up the entire thing. Lucy raised her brow at the dog beast before shaking her head as Haruo sits next to her with his arms crossed. The train started moving and Lucy looked out of the window with a small smile.

Soon the sun was setting and Lucy couldn't get the events of last night out of her head. Specifically Haruo fighting and killing Flint and his men. Lucy would look over at Haruo who hadn't really looked at her since they got to the train station.

"Haruo..."

"Hm?" Haruo turns his head to her and looked at her.

"Why did you kill those men last night?"

Lucy asked while looking up at him curiously.

Haruo would sigh as he looked away from Lucy.

"When I was growing up...I met a lot of bad people and in order to survive...I had to kill 'em...and soon enough it wasn't 'bout survival but...it was 'bout protecting people...To make sure they don't become what I am."

Lucy was touched by his motivation to protect people as she smiled softly at him but she felt saddened that he had to tae lives as a child. She didn't want to keep pushing but she still had more questions for him.

"Don't you think they can change...the bad people?"

Haruo looked back at Lucy and nodded slightly.

"Yes, there are times where they can change but how many innocent lives need to die 'til that happens? If it even will. But I just don't kill any bad person, I mostly kill those who won't change and never will. Some people are like that, they just love living off the pain and suffering of others."

Lucy would look down as she nodded softly. "I suppose that's a good point."

Haruo looked down at the blonde mage with only a hint of pity in his eyes.

"Hey Lue, promise me somethin' will ya?"

Lucy was a bit surprised by him calling her 'Lue' and it seems as if though his voice changed a bit. It was a bit softer this time around.

"Huh? W-what is it?" She asked softly blushing.

"Don't you ever take a life, I don't care what the situation is. You're a kind soul and I don't want you living with blood on your hands like how I do."

Lucy was a bit surprised by him suddenly and seemingly caring for her well being. She smiles before winking and giving him a thumbs up.

"Ya got it!"

Haruo nodded and looked away from her again as he growled softly.

"Soooo, guess I'm on your good side then huh?" Lucy smiles at him as she giggles.

"Don't push your luck." Haruo said as Lucy giggles.

Later on the blonde mage was asleep, resting her head on Haruo's shoulder. Haruo looked down at her as his eyes softened at the sight of her. He would look out of the window and into the starry night sky.

 _"She can't know the truth. No one in this world can. If I want to ensure everyone's safety, I must stay hidden."_


End file.
